Indexing mechanism



Jan. 22, 1946. Y J. CRANE 2,393,294

INDEXI'NG MECHANISM I Filed May a, 1945 I '4 Shets-Shetl INVENTOR.

BY v 7 Jan. 22', 1946. J CRANE INDEXING MECHANISM- Filed May 8, 1943 4Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. Jo/zw 670728 Jan. 22,1946.

J. CRANE INDEXING MECHANISM Filed- May 8, 194:

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

header I2 is slidably mounted upon a shaft I4, at the end of which thereis fixed, in any suitable manner, a type of locking member or cylinderregistering block I5. Projecting from one side of the rotatable memberor disk III are spaced apart index elements or fingers I6 whichpreferably carry rollers l1.

At a convenient distance from. the plate- 10 is mounted'aneccentri'cdefice generally indicated j at l8 mounted upon a shaft l9.One part of the eccentric l8 consists of a disk having projectingtherefrom a bearing pin 2| and this constitutes a reciprocating crank.The pin 2| carries connected thereto one end ofanadjustable cylinderreciprocating bar 22, theo'th'en end of which" is connected to thesliding header 12in any suit able manner as by a wrist pin 23 passingtherefixed registering block [5, completing the reciproeating cycle andat this point the other eccentric crank will have carried. the indexingslide, by

through and through a lug 24 atthe bottom of:

the header. The other part of the eccentric consists of another disk 25carrying a pin '26 and this constitutes an indexing crank. Connected atone end to the pin v26 in an adjustable indexing connecting bar 21, .theother end of which iscon-- nected to one leg of an indexing bell cranklever 28 by means of a pin 29.. The bell crank lever is pivoted on ashaft '30. The other leg 3|.is connected to an indexing slide 32 by anindexslide connecting bar 33.-by means of pins. 34 and 35.

The index slide 32 is mounted on an index slide bar 36 and has abifurcated indexingyoke or.

The ,combinedheccentric I8 is driven;

fork 31. by any suitable source of power (not shown), through a gear 38mounted upon the shaft [9.

It should be noted that the combination of ,the

two eccentric cranks are set at 90 apart so that when one is most activethe other is inactive.

In performing the cycle of motions heretofore referred to as including aforward motion, a backward motion and a motion of indexlng or g partialrotation to present consecutively new surfaces or sections of an entiresurface witheach consecutive cycle, the operation is as follows:

Beginning with the initial position at, zero de-' grees, as set forth inthe arrangement inFig, 1, s

the shaft l9 rotates clockwise carryin with: it

the eccentric device l8, the reciprocating crank and indexing crankbeing spaced apart 9 0},as above indicated. In thisinitial positionit-will be noted that the reciprocating bar 22 has already moved therotating member ID andits associated have been carried to its full backreciprocating stroke. The indexing slide member continuously receivesthe rollers [1 within the fork or yoke 31 until the indexing slide hasreached ahalfway up position as indicated in Fig, 3, being actuated bythe indexing connecting bar 21 operating the bell crank lever 28 andindex slide connecting bar 33. During the time the shaft [9 iscompleting one-half a revolution, or passing through an angle of 180,the eccentric cranks are again actuated to bring the rotatable indexedmember I U halfway forward along the reciprocating stroke 7 in theopposite direction (to. the right) and the index fork 3'I will havereached the topof its upward stroke. It will be noted that through thishalf cycle the roller I! has penetrated the depth of :the fork 31, beencarried around the fixed;

locking or registering cylinder block 15 and been parts halfway backalong one stroke (to the means of the indexing connecting bar 21 andbell 'crankwith' associated parts, downwardly to a halfway down positionbehind the block 15 as indicated in Fig. 51 As the shaft l9 continues torotate through the remaining to complete a single revolution, it willhave restored all of the parts" to the position indicated in Fig. l.

' 'In running through this cycle of motions it will be noted that thespaced apart index-elements or rollers; I! on the. rotatable indexmemberill, and other. associated parts, have been reciprocated into and out ofoperative positionby means oi the reciprocating bar and that theindexing means 7 comprising the indexing fork 31, have been actuated bythe eccentric 25 and'its associated parts, consecutively to receive eachof the indexin elezments-and rotatably advance the indexed memberin astep-by-step manner consecutively and. continuously during ,eachcycle'of reciprocation.

The foregoing indexing mechanism when associated with a cylinder such asthat indicated at l3 and carrying suitable dies rotating in a bath.

of paper pulp solution, willsuck up a controlled portion .of the :pulpand hold the, same thus until the cylinder l3 moves to the forward end,of the reciprocating stroke (or to the extreme right 3 looking at thedrawings and as indicated in Fig. 5).

whereupon the resulting formedcarton, is ,trans-.

ferred to other mechanism for ultimate finishing purposes.

vIt will belunderstood thatthe n achinehas ;many other advantages inadditionto those appearing herein. For example, the true motion of theindexing or partial rotationof the cylinder in being accelerated fromzero atthe start of the cycle to its maximum rate of rotation at themidthe of the indexing motion (see Figs. .1 and 3) and the decelerationfrom the middle to the end of the indexing operation (see Figs. 3 and 4)is not impaired by the action of thereciprocation and this accelerationand deceleration is about the easiest motion known. i

In addition to this advantageit will readily be appreciated that bychanging the timing position of the cranks the indexing can be made tooperate in an'oppo'site direction. f v

Another advantage is' that by changing the position of the bell'cranklever indexing'lca'n' be performed at the opposite end of thereciprocation.

In addition to the foregoing advantages, other advantages will be seenin that the mechanism can be operated horizontally, as hereinillustrated, or vertically or at an angle provided that the direction ofreciprocation and the direction of the indexing slide are at rightangles to each other. That is, the relative position ofthe means toaccomplishthe results contemplated by .thepresent invention should besuch that .the slidably actuated indexing slide traverses the path of,

reciprocation of the rotatable ind xed member, substaiitially as hereinillustrated. I

gangsta:

'itn-ireizeixaisaimimdcx will alsoibecomezapparent thati'allniofinmctisnahmeanstdesignedato ,obtainitnisircxcle: ofjzrriozations.e'an lbeis ecureek'wttiiorrtithe necessity of :resorting lthBJSPBCi-fifiZstmrcture zshawm. Eoraexample, .itsis of particulamsignificanceiand; mzthat: :two cmainishafts "she-mad:

gcedietherrwithwarratiogforiexample 10118;-

tnv sine, theefirstsshaft :positioned as :illusr': trated rrllfithecsecond shaz'ftids approximately: directly below or above thevertical'indexingcslide;

' Thusiithelbellhcrank could be eliminated.

It will thus be seen thatthe objects and advantages hereinbefore setforth can readily and efliciently be attained and since certain changesmay be made in the above construction and different embodiments of theinvention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it isintended that all matter contained in the above description or shown inthe accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and notin a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the followin claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. An indexing mechanism, which comprises in combination a rotatableindexed member, means for reciprocating said member into and out ofoperative position, and means for rotatably indexing said indexed memberin a step-by-step manner continuously and uninterruptedly during andintermediate the limits of each cycle of reciprocation.

2. An indexing mechanism, which comprises in combination a rotatableindexed member having spaced apart index elements, means forreciprocating said .member into and out of operative position, andindexing means. for consecutively receiving said index elements androtatably indexing said indexed member in a step-by-step mannercontinuously during and intermediate the limits of each cycle ofreciprocation.

3. An indexing mechanism, which comprises in combination a rotatableindexed member having spaced apart index elements, means forreciproeating said member into and out of operative position, andindexing means comprising an indexing fork for consecutively receivingsaid indexing elements and rotatably indexing said indexed membercontinuously during and intermediate the limits of each cycle ofreciprocation.

4. An indexing mechanism, which comprises in combination a rotatableindexed member having spaced apart index fingers, means forreciprocating said member into and out of operative position, andindexing means comprising an indexing yoke slidably mounted and actuatedto traverse the path of reciprocation of said rotatable indexed member,said yoke intermittently receiving said index fingers consecutively androtatably advancing said indexed member continuously during each cycleof reciprocation.

5. An indexing mechanism, which comprises in combination a rotatableindexed member having spaced apart index elements, means forreciprocating said member into and out of operative position, and anindexing slidin member comprising an indexing fork actuated by means ofan eccentrically operated bell crank lever connected to said slidingmember, said fork traversing the path of reciprocation of said rotatableindexed ber in a step-T-hyesilepr ingzeach nmleimeciprmation;-r6.-;Amindenmgtmechanism, whichicemnrisesein, combinatinmauntatabliaamdexedzmembernmeans for; imemlrerriicitoi and nutncfoperative posit'romcand-rmaansiorcotaltablyradvancing saidiindexed:members: in nistep byestep manmrzcontinuonslyiand rsduring.

each cycle pii'sracinr,nhotlrrocf'zsaidcmeans being actuated byeccentrics spaced to operate substantially ninety degrees apart.

7. An indexing mechanism which comprises in combination a rotatableindexed member having combination a rotatable indexed structure carry- 1ingspaced apart index projection elements, slidably actuated indexingmeans for consecutively receiving said index elements to rotate saidindexed structure, and means for reciprocating said index projectionelements into and out of engagement with said indexing means, and meansfor actuating said indexing means in synch'ronism with saidreciprocating means to rotatably index said structure during the cycleof reciprocation of said elements and intermediate the limits of saidcycle.

parted by the reciprocating action blends with a the maximum strain ofthe indexing action equal- 1y to distribute the combined strains of saidactions to all associated driving parts.

10. An indexing mechanism, which comprises in combination. a rotatableindexed member, means for reciprocating said member into and out ofoperative position and indexing means for rotatably advancing saidindexed member in a step-by-step manner continuously during each cycleof reciprocation, said indexing means including a rotatory eccentricmember connected to a slidable indexing member to transfer the latter toan operating point where minimum strain of the indexing action blendswith the maximum strain of the reciprocating action equally todistribute combined strains of said actions to all associated drivingparts.

11. An indexing mechanism, comprising a reciprocable indexing member, asupport reciprocable in a'path at an angle to the reciprocatory path ofthe indexing member, an indexed member rotatably carried by said supportfor reciprocation therewith, means for simultaneously reciprocating saidsupport and said indexing member in'said respective path's, andcoactingdrive elements carried by said indexing'member and said rotatableindexed member, said respective oable in a pathat an angle to the.reciprocatory' path of the indexing member, an'indexedmem berrotatablycarried by said supportfor'recipros cation; therewith, means forsimultaneously reciprocating said support and said indexing membersinsaid respective paths, enacting drive elements carried by said indexingmember and said rotatable indexed member, said respective elementstraversing intersecting paths and drivingly engaging one another duringat least a portion I of the reciprocatory cycles of said members torotatively index said indexed member, andmeans coacting with the driveelement on said rotatable indexed member to restrain rotation of thelatter. during another portion of the reciprooatory cycle.

thereoL.

' JOHN CRANE. i

